Chapter 367 – They’re All Talents!

Translator: Coca5156

Editor: Drea

Gu Lingzhi went silent. Although they had just known each other, from these few short sentences, Gu Lingzhi could sense how much the Chancellor cared for his people. From this relatively emotionless sentence, she could feel Lin Chongyuan’s sadness.

That hopelessness that he felt of himself. He could do nothing for these children who possessed a lot of potential.

At that moment, Gu Lingzhi really wanted to say that she could help them achieve a normal cultivation. But rationale stopped her from doing anything crazy.

The fact that they had treasures would cause people to envy and covet after their treasures. But if their treasure was known to be able to change people’s lives, it won’t be as simple as envy. They might very well become the target of the entire Lost Lands. No matter how powerful they were, the two of them would not be able to deal with everyone.

As time passed, the spiritual energy emitted by the cauldron increased, turning the Chancellor’s Manor into a cultivation heaven.

In this time, spiritual energy pulsed out from another two children as they successfully absorbed spiritual energy. Gu Lingzhi was now able to calmly take this in.

Why were the children in the Spirit City all so talented? Looking at the expressions of the people around them, they all looked as if this was normal. At most, there were a few that were slightly surprised. No one was shocked at this. They all behaved as if those children that became Martial Artists so quickly were just slightly more talented.

As more time passed, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan became numb from their initial shock. The sky above them slowly turned into a dark blue. The few hundred children sitting cross-legged in front of the main hall all finished their absorption of spiritual energy. That speed of absorption was so incredible that if anyone of them were to be thrown into the outside world, the clans would fight among themselves to recruit them. It made the two of them wonder if they were making a mountain out of a molehill and that absorbing spiritual energy into their bodies was actually a very simple thing. Maybe they were just too dumb which was why they found it difficult.

But that was also not right, since the both of them were prodigies among their batches. When they first absorbed spiritual energy, they used about half to a full day. When compared to these children, they were also pretty fast. Rong Yuan had used about twenty hours to absorb spiritual energy and it was quite a feat. This was also the reason why he was claimed and expected by people to be the Martial Artist most likely to ascend to become a True God.

In the Tianyuan Continent, Martial Artists that had just begun trying to absorb spiritual energy into their bodies would take about three to seven days normally. If they could do it within three days, they were already considered talented. But looking at these children, the worst one only took about 12 hours to absorb spiritual energy. They were extraordinary!

Gu Lingzhi sighed internally as the idea that she suppressed earlier made its way up to the surface.

Should she...continue monitoring them? After all, she and Rong Yuan cannot leave for the time being. Maybe she should observe them and choose one or two children with good hearts and morals to become her disciples.

As she thought of this, Gu Lingzhi turned to look at Rong Yuan. She realised Rong Yuan’s eyes had also lit up as he monitored the group of children in front of him. The delight in his eyes was apparent. He looked like if there was no one else around, he would carry one home.

Sensing Gu Lingzhi’s gaze on him, Rong Yuan tilted his head to match hers. His hand moved slightly as he pulled Gu Lingzhi to stand closer to him. Tilting his head to her ears, “If we have children in the future, they will definitely be as cute and brilliant.”

Gu Lingzhi replied, “...You can accept one or two disciples.”

“I don’t want to.” Rong Yuan flat out rejected. “How can anyone I adopt be better than my own child?” In addition, if he accepted a disciple, he would have to spend time training his student. He already had barely enough time with Gu Lingzhi, why would he create trouble for himself and find two additional light bulbs?

“Do you want to?” Rong Yuan looked at her suspiciously, he then squeezed her tender hand tightly, “You are not allowed to.” Gu Lingzhi’s time was his. How can she spend time on others?

Okay then, his voice was filled with jealousy. Why would she ever think that Rong Yuan would want disciples?

The sky turned completely dark blue as night fell in the Lost Lands. Chu Jiang, who had been throwing the strands of Spiritual Origins into the cauldron continuously to maintain the thick spiritual energy in the air finally stopped. Smiling, he declared the end of the Spirit Essence Awarding Ceremony.

The group of new young Martial Artists opened their eyes. They looked longingly at the thick spiritual energy still in the air as they obediently went to their respective parents.

Chu Jiang said some more encouraging words telling the children to not waste their talent. Even if they were restricted by their environment and could not reach a high level of cultivation, they should not give up any other way to become stronger.

When the main hall finally became peaceful again, Lin Chongyuan brought the group back to the main hall. He then asked Wei Lingshu to complete what he was saying that morning, “Lingshu, what did you want to say?”

Wei Lingshu immediately straightened up, “Chancellor, when I went with the two elders earlier to check the situation in the house, we suspect...suspect that there is a second Demigod in the Spirit City!”

“What did you say?” Lin Chongyuan jumped out of his chair in surprise. “There is another Demigod in the Spirit City?”

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“If my intuition is right, it is true. The victim, Yang Xinyu’s wound was completely caused by a Martial Artist. The person that did this is definitely a Demigod or minimally a peak Martial Sage.” Rong Yuan followed on after Lin Chongyuan.

A deathly silence suddenly overcame the main hall. After some time, a dry and rough voice rasped, “A second Demigod? How is that possible? In the past thousands of years, you two are the only ones that have entered the Lost Lands alive. The spiritual energy available in the Lost Lands is simply insufficient to allow anyone to reach the Demigod level.”

“That’s right, Elder Rong. Could you have seen wrongly?”

“I cannot be wrong.” Rong Yuan raised his brow. “I won’t say anything I am not sure of.”

Hearing this, those that suspected Rong Yuan initially smartly shut their mouths.

Lin Chongyuan sat back onto his chair slowly. He composed his emotions before saying, “I wonder, Elder Rong, would you be able to find this Demigod?”

“No.” Rong Yuan said frankly, “The person was extremely careful when he struck. He controlled the diffusion of spiritual energy to a very small area. If we are not near the crime scene, we wouldn’t be able to detect the spiritual energy at all and won’t be able to find the person.

“Is that the case?” Lin Chongyuan frowned as he fell into deep thought. The assistants around him however, were not as composed. As soon as they realised that Rong Yuan could not find the person, they immediately expressed their indignance, “You can’t find the Demigod? Or do you just not want to find him? Ever since the Lost Lands was found until now, no one has ever been able to reach the Demigod rank. The minute you arrive, another Demigod appears. This is too coincidental.”

“It is pretty coincidental.” Rong Yuan agreed with him, pretending to not get what he was trying to insinuate. “But now that it has happened, I have no way to control it.”

Rong Yuan then looked at Qiao Yeshu who was the one that had spoken. He then leaned back against his chair and started focusing on Gu Lingzhi’s fingers, expressing his desire to end the conversation.

“You...” Qiao Yeshu stammered, “Before you came, we never even had a Martial Sage appear in the Lost Lands. Now that you are here, a Demigod appears. Am I wrong to suspect you?”

“You are not wrong.” Gu Lingzhi was the one that replied. “But we are not the killers so there is no use in you suspecting us.”

Qiao Yeshu fell silent out of anger once again. Couldn’t the both of them behave a little like suspects? Did they really think they could do anything just because they were Demigods?

“I think you don’t understand the situation here. Do you really think that there is no one in the Spirit City that can take you on? Let me tell you, even if...”

“That’s enough. I believe them.” Lin Chongyuan cut off Qiao Yeshu. “If it were really them, they would also not be stupid enough to do it on the first day that they arrive and purposely leave traces to allow themselves to be suspected. With both of their abilities, they can kill without leaving any traces.”

At least this Governor was not stupid or gullible. Rong Yuan sat in his seat satisfied and added on, “Not bad, if it was really me, I would not have left traces of spiritual energy at the scene of the crime and let you guys trace it back to me.”

Qiao Yeshu huffed, “Who knows if you did it on purpose to mislead us?”

Rong Yuan scoffed, “Isn’t it better to do it so no one would even find out?”

“You...”

Seeing the short-tempered Qiao Yeshu about to do something rash, the people around him quickly held him back, “Stop it! This is not the time for you to act on your anger!”

Now, wasn’t the most important target the Demigod? It was of vital importance now to find a way to catch this person that hated them and was so powerful.

“You believe him too?” Qiao Yeshu glared.

“There is no need for him to make up this entire story that can be so easily rebutted.” Unless he did not want to stay in the Lost Lands any longer.

The acceptability of the Spirit City was much higher than what Gu Lingzhi had imagined. Other than a few that still harboured a deep suspicion towards them, everyone else believed them that the murderer was someone else.

The only thing that they could not grasp was – this Demigod murderer. How did he appear? Did he enter unnoticed into the Lost Lands before Rong Yuan and Gu Lingzhi came? Or did he come after they did?

Could he have originated from the Lost Lands? They did not even think in this direction. The spiritual energy available in the Lost Lands was simply pathetic and would not be able to allow anyone to cultivate to the level of a Demigod. They would not even be able to become a Martial Sage.

Falling into the whirlpool of guesses on who this person might be, both Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan did not realise that today’s Spirit Essence Awarding Ceremony was a form of cultivation training. Hundreds of children, who had never been tested for Spiritual Roots had simply just sat down and trained. This was simply unnatural!